Here, you are urged and encouraged to run your mouths about something important.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Afghanistan: Ten Years later, Zero Christian Churches

Remember when our troops were ordered to burn Christian Bibles in Afghanistan? Chalk this one up to proof that should have been a red flag. The US went into Afghanistan in direct response to 9/11 but when we got there, it became even more apparent how repressive the Taliban regime had been when it came to their implementation of Islam. The battle for hearts and minds included liberating people from the grip of the Taliban. With that liberation came the implied option that people would want an alternative to Islam - an alternative like Christianity. So, how does one explain this?

There is not a single, public Christian church left in Afghanistan, according to the U.S. State Department.

This reflects the state of religious freedom in that country ten years after the United States first invaded it and overthrew its Islamist Taliban regime.

In the intervening decade, U.S. taxpayers have spent $440 billion to support Afghanistan's new government and more than 1,700 U.S. military personnel have died serving in that country.

The last public Christian church in Afghanistan was razed in March 2010, according to the State Department's latest International Religious Freedom Report. The report, which was released last month and covers the period of July 1, 2010 through December 31, 2010, also states that “there were no Christian schools in the country.”

A post-Saddam Hussein Iraq has also seen an increase in the persecution and mass exodus of Christians since the US invasion. Perhaps it has something to do with how we allowed the Constitutions in those countries to take shape. A Congressional Research Service report looked at the reasons why Afghanistan is devoid of Christianity. One particular reason sticks out:

The report acknowledged that Afghanistan’s post-Taliban constitution, which was ratified with the help of U.S. mediation in 2004, can be contradictory when it comes to the free exercise of religion.

While the new constitution states that Islam is the “religion of the state” and that “no law can be contrary to the beliefs and provisions of the sacred religion of Islam,” it also proclaims that “followers of other religions are free to exercise their faith and perform their religious rites within the limits of the provisions of the law.”

However, “the right to change one’s religion was not respected either in law or in practice,” according to the State Department.

“Muslims who converted away from Islam risked losing their marriages, rejection from their families and villages, and loss of jobs,” according to the report. “Legal aid for imprisoned converts away from Islam remains difficult due to the personal objection of Afghan lawyers to defend apostates.”

There it is. Sharia Law. It doesn't matter what is in the Iraqi / Afghanistan constitutions. If Islam is the supreme law of the land, all other religions must be rejected. It's a non-negotiable the policy makers in the US conceded.

Want proof? Remember when US troops were ordered to burn Christian Bibles in Afghanistan because our leaders were afraid they would be used to convert people to Christianity?